Podcasts have become an increasingly popular tool for information and entertainment. There are unlimited categories available, and most importantly they can be listened to while doing other activities which makes them a popular tool. With short and long episodes, funny and serious options, and increasingly popular functions such as 1.5 speed, and of course being able to skip ads, podcasts have really taken off in the past few years.
For finance experts who are tired of sitting in front of their screens all day and dealing almost exclusively with data, a podcast can be a great shake up. With a more personal touch of talking about experiences and the human elements of finance, (and yes, even some humor here and there!) FP&A podcasts can be a nice break from the day-to-day life in the finance department, while still learning professional skills and tricks along the way.
Whether you are fighting traffic on the highway, taking the train to the office, or exercising after work, tuning into an FP&A podcast can be a great way to learn new professional bits of information, delve deeper into the global world of financial planning, and help grow your career and leadership skills. Here are the top 3 ongoing FP&A podcasts available:
1) FP&A Today
FP&A Today is a relatively new podcast series but the popular show took off with a bang. Paul Barnhurst (a.k.a. The FP&A Guy) is the host and he interviews a wide variety of people from across the world of financial planning. Some of the highlighted episodes include interviews with people such as Jordan Goldmeier, one of the leading global minds on data science, data visualization, and analytics, and Jack Alexander, a famous speaker, author and advisor who coaches the world’s leading finance teams.
Barnhurst does a great job of creating relevant content for FP&A professionals with all levels of experience, and the episodes contain great tips for how to deal with current events both inside the company as well as on a personal career level. FP&A today, which is sponsored by Datarails, a leading FP&A automation tool, creates weekly episodes full of a wide variety of everything FP&A related, including everyone’s favorite Excel jokes.
Top 3 episodes:
- Jack Alexander: How a Top Gun Maverick FP&A Keeps a Seat at The Table
- Jordan Goldmeier: The Big Data FP&A Pros Need to Know, Bad Excel Education, and the Function Everyone Needs to Know.
- Bryan Lapidus: How to Succeed in Best in Class FP&A
2) AFP Conversations Podcast
This podcast series from the Association for Finance Professionals (AFP) is one of the longest running and most consistent FP&A podcasts out there today. With around 250 episodes, there is something for all skill levels and desired subjects. The type of interviewees are also extremely varied, with conversations from corporate treasury executives and finance professionals discussing anything from budgeting, forecasting, leadership, and career development, to cybersecurity, blockchain, fintech, and of course FP&A.
With that many episodes, a quick search can find you an episode on any subject out there. From World Champion boxer Laila Ali, the youngest daughter of Muhamad Ali, talking about hard work and courage in developing our careers, to Jennifer Moss, an expert in work burnout, explaining how to avoid it- and plenty of financial talk- there is something for everyone on the AFP Podcast.
Top 3 episodes:
- Shawn Kanungo: Embracing Innovation
- Laila Ali: Finding Inner Strength
- Larry Maisel: The Human Side of AI Analytics
3) Count Me In
The Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) created the podcast series Count Me In as one of the leading podcasts that focuses on finance and accounting. With close to 200 episodes and quite a few years running, Count Me In has a great collection of content that can improve any finance professional or accountant’s knowledge.
In addition to common accounting and finance categories, Count Me In focuses quite a lot on important subjects in today’s business world such as data analytics, technology, business transformation, and agile project management. The show’s guests are just as varied and include business leaders, pHD. doctorates, and forward thinkers.
Top 3 Episodes:
- Jennifer Wolfenbarger: A Complete Look at Business Transformation
- Jim Rafferty: The Business of Gratitude
- Pedro Barras: Scaling and Managing a Successful Finance Team
